Hilary Duff
Houston, Texas, USA | Died = | Origin = | Occupation = Actress, singer, songwriter, fashion designer, film producer, spokesperson | Genre = Pop, pop rock, dance-pop, electronic rock | Instrument = Vocal | Years_active = 1997—present | Label = Walt Disney (2001—2003) Buena Vista (2001—2004) Hollywood (2002—2008) | URL = Official website Duff's signature }} Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer-songwriter and entrepreneur. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, Duff gained fame for playing the title role in the television series Lizzie McGuire. Duff went on to have a film career; her most commercially successful movies are including * Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film) (2003), * The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), * A Cinderella Story (2004). Duff has expanded her repertoire into pop music, with three "RIAA certified" Platinum albums and over thirteen million albums sold worldwide. Her first studio album, Metamorphosis (2003), was certified triple platinum. And she followed it up with two more platinum albums, Hilary Duff (2004) and Most Wanted (2005). Duff's last studio album, Dignity, was released in April 2007 and was certified Gold in August 2007. She has also launched a clothing line, "Stuff by Hilary Duff", and two exclusive perfume collections with Elizabeth Arden. Duff and her mother were listed as producers for the movie Material Girls, as of September 2008, her upcoming films include animated comedy Foodfight!, and independent films Greta, What Goes Up and Stay Cool. Early life and career Duff was born in Houston, Texas on September 28, 1987. She is the second child of Susan Colleen (née Cobb), a homemaker and a film producer and husband Robert Erhard Duff, a partner in a chain of convenience stores, who resides at the family home in Houston to maintain the family's convenience store business. She has an elder sister, Haylie Duff, who is also an actress/singer. Duff's mother encouraged Hilary to take up acting classes alongside her elder sister, Haylie, which resulted in both girls winning roles in various local theater productions. At the ages of eight and six, respectively, the Duff sisters participated in the ballet, The Nutcracker Suite with Columbus BalletMet in San Antonio. The siblings became more enthusiastic about the idea of choosing acting as a profession, and eventually relocated to California with their mother. Duff's father stayed at the family home in Houston to take care of their business. After several years of auditions and meetings, the Duff sisters were cast in various television commercials. Career Entrepreneurship Duff launched her clothing line, "Stuff by Hilary Duff", in March 2004, with clothes distributed through Target in the United States, Kmart in Australia, Zellers in Canada, and Edgars Stores in South Africa. The company, initially started as a clothing line, has expanded its business into furniture, fragrances, and jewelry, targeted at the teen and preteen crowd. In 2007, the Internet website Stardoll.com previewed Duff's clothing line to customers by allowing them to dress up a paper doll on the website (which include Hilary Duff's own doll) with the clothes. Playmates Toys released a celebrity doll of her in 2004. In late 2006, Mattel released a Hilary Duff Barbie doll. As a fashion designer, she had designed clothes for Barbie dolls in the past and with the release of her doll, she joined Reese Witherspoon, Beyonce Knowles and Lucille Ball who have their own celebrity-dolls. In September 2006, Duff released her perfume, "With Love... Hilary Duff", which was distributed by the Elizabeth Arden company. The perfume was initially sold only in Macy's in the U.S. and soon it was being sold in other regions like Japan and Canada. In 2007, Duff announced that she will be releasing a summer version of the perfume titled, "Wrapped With Love". It was released in January 2008, and a Spring Gift Set version was released in time for Valentines Day. Duff and her pet dog Lola made an appearance in the Electronic Arts game The Sims 2: Pets, which was released on October 2006. In console versions of the game, Duff's character visits public areas and allows the players to let their Sims socialize with her and Lola. Animal rights' organisation, "Animal welfare league" have criticised Duff and celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson for displaying their dogs as fashion accessories rather than pets. Personal life In a June 2006 interview with Elle magazine, Duff was quoted as saying: "...(virginity) is definitely something I like about myself. It doesn't mean I haven't thought about sex, because everyone I know has had it and you want to fit in". Duff later told MuchMusic that she did not say the quotes attributed to her in the article and that the subject was "definitely not something that I would talk about..." She denied the quotes again in a 2008 interview with Maxim magazine. Duff is involved with various charities, is an animal rights enthusiast and a member of Kids with a Cause. She also donated $250,000 to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, she donated over 2.5 million meals to Hurricane Katrina victims in the south. In August 2006, Duff traveled to a New Orleans elementary school and worked with USA Harvest to distribute meals. She has also served on the Advisory Board of the "Audrey Hepburn Child Benefit Fund" and the Celebrity Council of "Kids with a Cause". On October 8, 2008, Duff starred in a public service announcement for The Think Before You Speak Campaign by Ad Council and GLSEN, to prevent youth from using anti-LGBT vocabulary, such as the phrase "That's so Gay". In 2005, Duff's earnings were estimated to be $15 million and in December 2007, Duff was ranked at #7 in the Forbes "Top 20 Earners Under 25", with an annual earnings of $12 million. In 2007, Duff was ranked at #23 in Maxim's "Hot 100" list. In 2008, Duff was ranked #7 for the US edition of FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World", while for the UK edition she ranked in at #8. Relationships Duff began dating singer Aaron Carter in 2001. They met on the sets of Lizzie McGuire, during Carter's guest appearance in a Christmas episode. The relationship lasted two years. It was reported that Carter left Duff for Lindsay Lohan, but soon broke up with Lohan and resumed dating Duff. Carter later stated that he also cheated on Duff with her best friend, and that Duff "got her heart broken" and he was "sorry" for his actions. On March 23, 2007, Claymation facsimiles of Duff and Lohan appeared on the celebrity wrestling series Celebrity Death Match episode "Where's Lohan?". Duff and Lindsay Lohan were later reported to have been involved in a "feud" with each other over their relationship with Carter. In 2007, Duff and Lohan had reconciled. Lohan attended the release party for Duff's album Dignity and Duff told People magazine that she thought Lohan was "fun" and "a nice girl". Duff began dating Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden in 2004. After a long period of tabloid speculation, Duff's mother Susan announced their relationship in a June 2005 interview for Seventeen magazine. Duff and Madden broke up in November 2006. The same year, Duff's parents separated after 22 years of marriage, due to infidelity on the part of her father. She wrote about the pain caused by the separation in her songs "Stranger" and "Gypsy Woman". Duff began dating NHL player Mike Comrie in 2007. She frequently attends his games and bought herself a copy of Hockey for Dummies. Comrie bought Duff a Mercedes-Benz for her 20th birthday. Filmography Films Television Guest appearances Discography Studio albums * 2003: Metamorphosis * 2004: Hilary Duff * 2007: Dignity Other albums * 2002: Santa Claus Lane (Christmas album) * 2005: Most Wanted (Compilation album) * 2006: 4Ever (Compilation album) - released in Italy only. * 2008: Best of Hilary Duff (Compilation album) DVDs * 2003: All Access Pass * 2004: The Girl Can Rock * 2004: Learning to Fly * 2006: 4Ever * 2007: Dignity (Deluxe Edition) Awards References External links * * * Hollywood Records Category:Actress Category:Actors